Professionalism and the Adoption of Black Children

Correspondence to Paul Stubbs, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Lancaster, Department of Social Administration, Fylde College, Lancaster LA1 4YF. Summary This article poses certain issues about the effects of professionalismin policy and practice in the adoption of black children. Bylocating the practice in its historical context, recent debatesabout ‘bans’ on the adoption of black children bywhite families can be discussed more clearly. This is followed by case studies based on original researchin two London boroughs, examining professionalism in child careand adoption practice, before certain conclusions and alternativesare addressed.     

Caring for the Elderly Widowed--the Burden on their Supporters

Summary This paper examines how caring for elderly widowed people affectsthe lives of their ‘familiars’. This study is partof a larger national study on widowhood in old age carried outby the Institute for Social Studies in Medical Care. The familiarstended to be the children of the widowed, particularly theirdaughters. Children of the widowed, again often daughters, weremore likely than other familiars to suffer life restrictionsbefore and after the death because of the care and support givento the deceased and the surviving spouse. In addition to theircaring role familiars were often committed to full or part-timeemployment and most also had their own families to support.The care they provide for the elderly is not always withoutcost. The contribution towards community care given by suchinformal helpers deserves greater recognition and the social,psychological and financial costs thus incurred merit greaterrelief. As the help is needed by a minority only of such informalcarers, adoption of a policy relieving them as far as possibleof the costs they incur, would not involve intolerable financialoutlays.     

Inter-country Adoption: Australia's Position

Although each Australian state and territory has its own adoption legislation and its own social welfare department, they have combined to send inter-country adoption delegations to Asian countries to negotiate working arrangements on a uniform basis. When a child is adopted by people in another country, care needs to be taken in both countries by authorities, professional workers and parents to ensure that the best interests of the child are paramount. Over 1,000 children from Asian countries have been adopted by Australians. There is a dearth of published research material, but there are indications that most of these adoptions are proving very satisfactory for the children. To protect the child's status in terms of name, nationality and guardianship, it is important that policies and procedures in relation to adoption practice, immigration, and statutory recognition of overseas adoptions adequately complement each other.     

Adoption of Vietnamese Children: An Australian Study

This paper briefly reports some of the findings from the first major adoption study involving transracial and transcultural transplantations of children into Australian families. The historical development of inter-country adodption; the world growth of orphan populations; and the controversy and oppostion to adoption across racial arid cultural lines is briefly reviewed. Australian involvement in the adoption of nearly 300 Vietnamese children, of whom 111 were placed in 101 New South Wales families; the outcome of these adoptions; the development and adjustment of the children; and implications of the research are discussed. Positive early outcomes, as well as favourable development and behavioural adjustments, appear to have overcome deprivation, malnutrition and other traumatic ‘early experience’.     

Adoptive Parents’ Attitudes toward Adoption and Domestic Adoption Development in Korea: Adoptees’ Specific Needs for Origin

This study aimed to find out how Korean adoptive parents were carrying out their adoptions in Korea and to see if adoptive families truly understood the meaning of adoption and their adopted child's specific needs to know about his genetic roots. This understanding on the adoptive parents’ part is needed to help the child to form a self‐identity for his well‐being. The study sample of 352 adoptive parents may be the largest study ever done involving families currently raising their adopted children in Korea. Results showed that families did not seem to understand adoption with its characteristics well. Though families’ satisfaction with the adoption was very high, it appeared that their satisfaction was limited to when their adoptees were young, not being extended to when children became old enough to know of their adoption. For adoption development in Korea, however, it was encouraging that parents’ participation in local (regional) meetings with other fellow adopters from self‐support groups appeared to be the most significant consistent factor in contributing to the families’ understanding of adoption and their positive attitudes for the adoptees’ well‐being and to their satisfaction with the adoption.     

Adoption in South Africa: trends and patterns in social work practice

This paper reports findings from a research study on adoption in South Africa conducted in 2009. The research included secondary data analysis of the South African National Adoption Register to establish trends and patterns of adoption in South Africa between 2004 and 2009, and primary data collection through qualitative interviews with key informants in public and private social welfare services to explore attitudes, knowledge and experiences of social work practice related to adoption. The quantitative findings report the number of national and international adoptions along with trends and socio‐demographic patterns of national adoptions. Qualitative findings report on social work practice, systemic barriers and social worker attitudes as barriers to improved social work practice around national adoptions. The paper highlights comparisons to adoption literature in the USA, a country with a similar legislative framework and cultural complexities, but significantly more resources for implementation. Recommendations are offered for social work practice, national data collection and policy implementation efforts to support efforts to increase adoption.     

Family Structure as a Factor in the Adjustment of Adopted Children

Summary An analysis of the relationship between five types of adoptivefamily structure and the adjustment of adopted children, whenseven to seven and a half years of age, indicates that the presenceof a natural child born after adoption to a previously childlesscouple is associated with serious behavioural dysfunction inthe adopted child. In this type of family the proportion ofboys so maladjusted is 10 times greater than in the modal familytype comprising adopted children only. In terms of specificmanifestations, a greater proportion show habit and sleep disturbance,and problems of behaviour and eating. The findings are discussedcritically, and potential fertility is suggested as a criterionfor the selection of applicant couples who should be counselledto defer their adoption.     

Children in Care--the Association With Mental Disorder in the Parents

Summary A study was made of 31 families of children who had stayed incare for at least 12 months, and of 26 families (coming fromthe same district) with children who had been in care for upto three months. Information about the parents' mental healthwas obtained from social work records, psychiatric records andinterviews with the parents. The parents of children in carefor the longer period were more likely to have received psychiatrictreatment and appeared to suffer from more severe or longstandingdisorders, as evidenced by admissions into psychiatric hospitaland type of psychiatric diagnosis. However our most strikingfinding was the high rate of past and current psychiatric disorderin the total sample of parents; this appeared to be an importantfactor influencing children's admissions into, and dischargefrom, care.     

Constructing Interracial Families Through Intercountry Adoption*

Objective. This article analyzes the role of race and ethnicity in constructing American families through intercountry adoption. We argue that such adoptions illustrate the fluidity and tenacity of specific racial boundaries in American families. Methods. Data are drawn from the U.S. 2000 Census—the first to contain information on children's adoptive status—to examine whether race of parents and adopted children match and whether racial matching varies by the characteristics of adoptive families and adopted children. Results. Our findings indicate that minority‐race parents are more likely than white parents to adopt a child of the same race as themselves, and that the odds of white parents, in particular, adopting a white versus nonwhite child from abroad are related to factors such as the age, sex, and health status of the child, as well the presence of other children in the household. Conclusion. Parents weigh a constellation of factors, including attributes of the adopted child and the children already in the household, when adopting a child of the same or different race from abroad.     

Securing permanence for children in care: A cross-country analysis of citizen's view on adoption versus foster care

If children in child protection cannot be cared for by their natural parents, should they be adopted or live in foster home? Results from a study of representative samples of populations (n = 12 330), in eight European countries—Austria, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway and Spain—and California, USA, reveal that people would recommend adoption over foster care, if a child in public care cannot grow up with their natural parent(s). There are cross-country differences between populations, and examining if institutional context such as type of child protection system explains differences, we find that child maltreatment-oriented systems are more supportive of adoption than other types of systems. Citizens having little confidence in the child protection system were only weakly correlated with preference for adoption. In conclusion, people prefer adoption as placement options for children in care are more than foster homes, and possible this finding reflects a sort of refamalialization of children into the private sphere.     

Assessing Adoptions in Difficulty

Correspondence to Dr David Howe, Lecturer in Social Work, University of East Anglia, School of Economic and Social Studies, Norwich NR4 7TJ. Summary Although most adoptions are judged a success, a small numberof families and their adopted children run into behaviouraland relationship difficulties. The Post-adoption Centre, London,is a specialist agency which works with a number of client groups,including adopters and their families. The assessments madeby the Centre's counsellors of adoptive families were analysed.Two dimensions defined the counsellors' assessments. One recognizeda strong developmental perspective and owed much to the recentwork of David Brodzinsky. The other emphasized the complex emotionalinteractions that can take place between parents and child.Because of its originality and ability to refine the qualityof assessments, the analysis concentrates on the second dimension.When the developmental and interactional perspectives are combined,five assessment themes emerge. These are described and illustratedwith case examples.     

Foster and Residential Care Practices Compared

Correspondence to Dr Matthew Colton, Department of Social and Administrative Studies, Barnett House, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2ER Summary This paper reports what is, remarkably, the first systematic,in-depth, comparative study of foster and residential care practices.The overall research objectives were: (1) to delineate and comparecare practice in special foster homes (i.e., homes accommodatingchildren traditionally considered too old or disturbed for fosterplacement) and Children's Homes for older children in localauthority care; and (2) if possible, ascertain whether the responsesmanifested by children in such settings can be related to thecare practices they experience. The approach adopted was essentially sociological. A lengthyperiod of field-work in two local authorities featured the useof a range of research instruments and included the collectionof data on the following: the management of recurrent–mainlydaily–social events; children's community contacts; theprovision of physical amenities; the controls and sanctionsused by caretakers vis-à-vis children; the roles of caretakersand their behaviour and attitudes towards children; and thecharacteristics of children, their behaviour towards caretakers,perceptions of their social environments and progress duringplacement. Quantitative methods were used in data analysis becausethey provide a useful guide to the import of observed differencesbetween foster homes and Children's Homes. Care practice in the foster homes was, overall, significantlymore child-oriented than in the Children's Homes. Moreover,the responses of residential children appeared to fall shortof offering justification for the ways that the lives of suchchildren seemed to differ from those of foster children.     

Secrecy and Openness in Adoption: An Historical Perspective

The issue of whether there should be continuing contact between those who are adopted and their birth relatives is one of the most contentious issues in current adoption practice (see for example DoH, 1993; McWhinnie and Smith 1994). The view traditionally taken is that adoption in England and Wales has been secret since its legal origins in 1926 and any moves to more fully disclosed information and indeed contact between the parties in adoption is a recent development (see for example DoH 1992). This article considers the history of birth family contact and access to records in adoption from 1926 to the 1958 Adoption Act and examines the factors that favoured the development of closed models of practice where there was no contact between the parties and records became secret. In doing so it challenges the accepted view that adoption has always provided for secrecy in England and Wales and establishes that both the thinking of policy makers and the legislation itself until 1949 provided for more open forms of adoption than we enjoy today. Secrecy, it is claimed, developed as a consequence of a collusion between professionals and the judiciary which disregarded the legal rights of birth parents and failed to respect their entitlement to a proper say in the decisions about the future of their children.     

The trouble with foster care: the impact of stressful 'events' on foster carers

Summary The article draws on the first stages of a large-scale longitudinalstudy into foster care with 'looked after' children. It usesdata supplied by 950 foster carers in response to a postal questionnairedesigned to document the proportions who had experienced oneor more of six potentially stressful 'events': breakdowns ordisruptions, allegations, relationship with birth parents, familytensions, 'tug of love' cases, and other disagreements withsocial services. The article uses carers' comments to describetheir reaction to the 'events'. It then examines the relationshipbetween the 'events' and measures of carer stress, satisfactionwith fostering, and intentions to continue fostering. Overall,two-thirds of the sample had experienced one or more of these'events' and these were associated with a measure of mentalill-health and with attitudes towards continuing fostering.     

Preparation and planning for face‐to‐face contact after adoption: the experience of adoptive parents in a UK study

Whilst there is a general international trend towards more open adoption, there is considerable variation between agencies in the extent to which they are prepared to support different forms of contact arrangements. Agencies have a pivotal role to play in decisions about contact and early planning that is integrated into the assessment and preparation of prospective adopters is fundamental to its success. This paper reports on adoptive parents' experiences of the process of preparation and planning for direct, face‐to‐face contact. During preparation, agencies were clearly getting the message across to prospective adopters about the importance of contact for the child's well being. However, insufficient attention was directed at helping adopters to anticipate their feelings towards birth relatives and their responses to the kinds of management issues that might arise after adoption. There was considerable variation in the extent to which adopters were involved in the process of planning detailed contact arrangements, and this seemed to bear relevance on the success or otherwise of subsequent contact arrangements.     

Research Review: In a rush to permanency: preventing adoption disruption

Since the late 1990s, US, UK and Canadian policy have increasingly focused on improving permanency outcomes for looked‐after children. Although the ideal permanency outcome of reunification is attained for about half of the children entering out‐of‐home care, an increasing number of children are adopted each year. The vast majority of adoptions are stable and secure, but concerns about adoption disruption haunt child welfare workers when making this important permanency decision. Despite a variety of definitions employed in the literature, adoption disruption is a general term used to describe the failure or breakdown of an adoptive child’s placement. Studies dating back to the 1970s have reported adoption disruption rates and the characteristics associated with those involved in such cases. This paper reviews available research, principally from the United States, and offers possible explanations for the wide range of reported disruption rates in the literature. After reviewing the research, practice implications for improving adoption outcomes and suggestions for future research are presented.     

Towards Accountability in Social Work: One Year's Intake to an Area Office

Summary Monitoring one year's referrals to an area office of a socialservices department, we found that of the 2,436 referrals representing2,057 cases, about half were already known to the area office.Demographically the clientele fell largely into three groups—theelderly, young families and children. The main problem groupingsconsisted of those with physical disabilities or suffering fromfrailty in old age, those with financial and environmental problems,and families with disturbed relationships and child care problems.Most of the clients had short-term help and at the end of sixmonths only 11% of the referrals were still open. Distinctive profiles emerged when comparing the routes by whichclients with different types of problems reached the area officeand the help they got once they had passed its threshold: (a) The elderly and disabled, mainly referred by the healthservices, received predominantly practical help. (b) Those with financial and material problems, largely self-referred,received information, advice and referral to other agencies. (c) The disturbed families, referred by many different sources,received detailed exploration, assessment and casework. Those clients who were passed on for more extended help to thelong-term teams—some 10% of the intake—were mainlythe very vulnerable elderly and disabled persons, and childrenwho had been taken into care or who were in need of surveillanceand protection for other reasons. The study raises questions about the methods of service deliveryin response to the demands made on the area office and discussespossible changes in approach towards more community-orientedpreventive work.     

The inclusive family support model: Facilitating openness for post‐adoptive families

Open adoptions have increased over the past few decades, and although guidance for considering and creating open adoption agreements exist, one area of needed post‐adoption support is helping adoptive birth/first families navigate open‐adoption relationships after finalization. Adoption agencies have a responsibility to assist adoptive parents, who may have fears and concerns about openness, see the potential benefits rather than only the challenges. This article describes a practice model designed by one agency to help families navigate post‐adoption openness. The Inclusive Family Support model is conceptualized through the theoretical perspectives of family systems theory, ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief, and the transtheoretical model of change. We highlight the major dimensions of the model, how it will be implemented and evaluated at one agency, and discuss implications for practice and policy.     

Navigating uncharted terrain: Domestic adoptions in Kenya

Over 2 million children are cared for in kinship care in Kenya, and approximately 100,000 are believed to be living in residential care centres. Under leading international policy instruments ratified and domesticated by Kenya, domestic adoption is considered an option to be promoted and regulated in ensuring children's right to family‐based care. In this qualitative study, the authors interviewed 21 participants regarding the cultural and social contexts of domestic adoption in Kenya. Common beliefs and attitudes reflect a misunderstanding of the legal implications of adoption, the centrality of lineage as a vehicle for defining family membership and inheritance, and strong stigma regarding infertility. Main barriers to adoption include fear of exposing infertility, worry about corrupt practices, and reluctance to grant full inheritance rights to a child unrelated by blood. Despite these challenges, some couples are adopting to fulfil their desire for a child, as an expression of charity, and in some cases for practical reasons such as obtaining insurance for a kin child. The authors recommend placing children in adoption only with proper preparation and ethical procedures and suggest long‐term approaches to promoting adoptions that will ensure full rights of family membership for the child.     

The Treatment of Enuresis amongst Child Clients of a Social Services Department

Summary The adoption of an ‘outpatient’ model of supervisingthe treatment of bedwetting amongst child clients of a socialservices department is described. The treatment technique usedwas the generally effective ‘enuresis alarm’, or‘bell-and-pad’. Fifteen out of a total of 25 concludedcourses of treatment were successful, with an average treatmentduration of 14.9 weeks. Both this outcome, and the rate of drop-outbefore completion of treatment (ten cases) are comparable withthose obtained with non social services clients, and the useof the enuresis alarm with children in care (including thosein residential establishments) was found to be quite practicable.A high relapse rate (43%) was, however, found for social servicesclients, relapse usually following a placement change or othermajor stress.